


Just for a moment forget who you think you are

by karrenia_rune



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 12:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10831581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune





	Just for a moment forget who you think you are

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Enterprise, the Star Trek universe and all of the characters that appear here belong to Paramount, UPN, and now, whoever owns the Gene Roddenberry estate,  
and are not mine. References events from the episode "Minefield."

He would rather not think about how much longer his supply of oxygen will last. It's a no-win way of looking at his predicament. Malcolm Reed would prefer to entertain all of the available options open to him before admitting defeat. 

All the same, the immediate future doesn't look good. Ever since the crew of the Enterprise got stuck in a minefield they have had to walk a very narrow line in order to extract themselves from the situation. 

"Okay, that was a snap compared to this. I'm beginning to understand why in life sciences classes, they taught, that when a wild animal became trapped in a snare it often would chew its own leg off." 

Malcolm Reed looked down at the length of his own leg seemingly wedged flush with the outer shell of the Enterprise. He debated whether he is far enough gone to  
actually, take out his phaser and blow his own leg off. 

"That's just crazy talk."

Inside the earpiece of his EVA suit, filtered through the static of interference and distance he can hear the ship's engineer Trip Tucker swearing at yet another piece of stubborn machinery. "I can hear you, you know," Reed says into the audio pickup. "Yeah, but I just got the two-way communication going." 

"Do I want to you how it's going out there?" Tucker added.

"The mines that were attached to the hull are gone, so we're batting .500 there, Sir," Reed paused and considered how best to explain his current predicament. "Speaking for myself, well, let's just, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, I'm stuck."

"Stuck?" 

"Stuck as in, solidly wedged into place, and unless you can think of some way to get rid of the last mine, and haul me back in, I would very much appreciate it."

"Archer wants to go out and bring you in. Says he has a plan."

"By all means, put him through." Reed sighed. 

"I'm going out there," Archer said. 

"I don't mean to contradict you, Sir," Reed stiffly said, "But I would strongly advise against it. 

***  
Hours later, after Captain Archer managed to free Reed and get him back aboard the ship and Doctor Phlox's examination, allowed Reed to return to active duty, not without  
reservations. Because of the physical extremes that he has gone through, and resultant psychological trauma Dr. Pholox wanted to keep Reed overnight for observation. Reed,  
however, had balked, and aware of how stubborn the other man could be, Dr. Pholox had relented and agreed.

According to Reed being out there in space faced with the potential of detonating mines going off was far worse than any other predicament he could have undergone, just as he'd told Captain Archer.

It had been a stiff and awkward discussion, one made even more difficult by the limitations of both the situation and their EVA suits. 

Tucker, is like a racehorse champing at the bit, Which leads him to wonder if this anxious sensation he feels regarding Malcolm Reed stems more from a personal curiosity than from one ship colleague asking after the mental state of another. "But damn it all, it's eating at me and inquiring minds want to know."

Reed's a tough stalk, not one to panic, which is why Tucker suspects he was given the rank of both lieutenant and the armory master. To Tripp's way of thinking it's like Malcolm has some kind of personal grace under fire. "And we've certainly had quite a bit of experience with taking fire, lately." 

Tucker finally made up his mind to go and speak to Malcolm, if only to make certain that he was all right. He knows the man isn't exactly the easiest person to approach on personal matters. 

"Do you have a minute?" Tucker asks, going to look for Reed in the Armory waiting for a minute as he watches Reed check and recheck the weapons inventory. When he looks up, Tucker asks. "Look, I may be over stepping  
here but I heard what happened, and I just wanted to say, well, I'm glad you made out of there in one piece."

"Thanks," Reed shrugged. "I know I've got a reputation as a grouch, and maybe it's deserved, but for what it's worth, Trip," Reed sighed than shook his head

"You know that my bark is worse than my bite, so don't stand there looking like you've just been handed your walking papers. You can come in."

"You? A grouch?" Tucker whistled, "Coulda knocked me over with a feather. Otherwise, ya'all be as tightly wound as a ring-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." In the back of Tripp's mind, he thought' 'Do I want to tell him this, cause I know it's gonna come out all wrong or worse, he'll just misread my whole intent."

"Clever," Reed smiled, this one time a smile that was reflected in his eyes. 

"Well, I do try," Tucker replied. "So you gonna be okay?" He reached up and ran a nervous hand through the strands of his thick wavy hair. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, just you that I've felt that you were....

"I was what, a self-absorbed son of a bitch. It's all right, Tucker," Reed remarked. "I am aware that that's the general impression people tend to form about me." He offered a short bark of a laugh. "I don't know if I quite disagree with that particular assessment, nor am I all certain that it won't be wrong."

"No, probably not," Tucker replied. "It's just that my momma used to sing an old song that went something like "Just for a moment forget who you think you are. Forget the scars and the pain."

"Tripp, are you going barmy?" Reed asked skeptically.

"No, no, absolutely not!" Tucker exclaimed. "Will you shut up and let me finish? 

Reed snickered, "Oh, sure. If it won't take too long."

Okay then, Tucker blushed. "Just for a moment start to forget about the scars and forget who you think you are. All the fear within your world, you can take it...

And greatness isn't what you think it's not being up on that silver screen. It's not convincing people you don't fall apart. It's just serving and being who you are."

"Yeah," Reed replied as he began to rock back and forth on his heels, apparently absorbing all of this. Tucker wanted to reach out to take Reed and, do, things, things that might not be regulation, but at that moment it was rather blurry so he simply reached out and drew Reed to him who, unexpectedly did not resist and hugged him. A full blown, bear-hug, rib-cracking bear hug.

And Reed did not pull back or resist or try to get away. When a silence that was not as awkward as Tucker had expected it to be, he cleared his throat. "I mean, I guess, I was checking. You gonna be okay?"

"But thanks for checking, maybe I don't say that often enough, so give me a reminder every once in a while."

"Did you need an extra hand with the inventory?" Tucker asked.

"Depends, you offering?"

"Yeah."

"Then I accept."


End file.
